Thromboembolic risk and anticoagulant therapy in COVID‐19 patients: emerging evidence and call for action

Emerging evidence shows that severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can be complicated with coagulopathy, namely disseminated intravascular coagulation, which has a rather prothrombotic character with high risk of venous thromboembolism. The incidence of venous thromboembolism among COVID-19 patients in intensive care units appears to be somewhat higher compared to that reported in other studies including such patients with other disease conditions. D-dimer might help in early recognition of these high-risk patients and also predict outcome. Preliminary data show that in patients with severe COVID-19, anticoagulant therapy appears to be associated with lower mortality in the subpopulation meeting…